Kingdom Heroes
by Frejennix
Summary: Mina is new to the group. Her parents had just been murdered and she is staying with Aerith. 2 boys are determined to win her heart. But when a group of people like her come to take her away, who will she choose to stay with? SoraxOC, RikuxOC
1. Chapter 1

Sorry I couldn't help myself.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mina was crying in her room. She had every reason in the world to. The police had just come over to her house to tell her that her parents had been shot and murdered on their way home from a play. Now they were downstairs in her house deciding what to do with her as though she was furniture or money. She heard them come up the stairs and knock on the door. "Miss?" said an officer.

"Y-yes?" she said, wiping her face.

"Do you have any closer family members that we could send you to?" they asked. Mina felt her blood boil. Why were they talking about her as if she was a thing and not a normal person? She didn't voice this aloud, but instead replied, "Yes, I have a cousin on Destiny Islands. Her name is Aerith Gainsborough. (thank you, anonymous person for telling me that!"

"Will you call her and let her know what happened?" asked a female officer. Mina did not want to but she did it anyway. "Hello, this is Aerith."

"Aerith?"

"Mina? Is that you?" asked her cousin.

"Y-yeah. Aerith something terrible happened." She said, trying to hold back her tears.

"What? Mina, are you crying?"

"Aerith, it's my parents… they're dead."

"What? No! when did that happen?"

"Just now. Listen, could I live at your place? You know, seeing as I have no one else to turn to and…"

"Of course you can!" said Aerith, who sounded shocked at the very thought. "I wouldn't turn away from my cousin!"

"Thanks, Aer."

"When are you coming?"

"Well, the police probably want me out of their hair as soon as possible, so…"

"I'm coming over there." Said Aerith with a definite voice.

"No, Aerith don't…" but she had already hung up. All Mina could do was wait, and dread the reaction that she would experience when she saw her parents' bodies on her front lawn. Yes, the bastard who had murdered them had done it right in front of her house. Mina heard a scream from outside and rushed out. Aerith was staring in horror at her parents' bodies, which were slashed and shot and beaten. Mina started to cry again, and Aerith rushed over to her. "Oh, Mina!" she said as she hugged her cousin tightly, "You can stay with us for as long as you need to!"

"T-thanks, A-Aerith." She sobbed into Aerith's shoulder.

"Is she gonna be okay, Aer?" asked a male voice from behind Aerith. Mina gasped, and looked. It was Leon, her other cousin. (Aerith and Leon are from different sides of Mina's family. Leon is from her dad's and Aerith is from her mom's. So they're not really related, they're only related to Mina.) Mina broke away from Aerith and hugged Leon very tightly. She loved her cousin. He knew exactly what it felt like to not be able to say how you feel. Leon was surprised at her sudden action, but he returned the hug. "It's gonna be okay, Mina. You're gonna stay with Aer. She'll take care of you."

"What about you?"

Leon smiled. "I'm gonna take care of you, too."

"T-Thanks, Leon."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was emo when I wrote this, okay? So it's gonna be kinda depressing but read and review for it anyway. PLEASE?!?!?


	2. Chapter 2

Mina walked through the halls of Twilight Town High School, completely lost in her own thoughts. She was so immersed in her own thoughts that she wasn't watching where she was going. So she walked right into a person and dropped her books. "Sorry!" she said as she tried to gather her fallen books. She reached for her black sketchbook but the person picked it up and started looking through it. "Hey!"

"Relax." Said a male voice. Mina looked up. A very good looking silver haired boy was looking through her sketchbook, his eyebrows raised. "These are really good. Did you draw them?" he asked. Mina finally found her voice and stammered, "Y-yeah." She got up from the floor and he looked at her closely. "Hey, I don't think I've seen you before. Are you new here?"

"Y-yeah. I'm actually s-staying with my cousin, Aerith."

"Oh, you're Aer's cousin!" he said, realization dawning upon him at last. "She told us a lot about you. Mina, right?"

"Yeah."

"I'm Riku. One of Aerith's friends."

"Well, lookie here, fellas. It seems little Riku is trying to one up us." Said a nasty male voice from behind Riku. Mina looked and saw a group of very unpleasant guys, who were leering at her and Riku. Riku glared at them. "Back off, Axel."

"Why?" he asked, looking at Mina in a way that she didn't like. "Is she taken or something? By you? Why would she want to hang out with a guy like you when she could have a guy like me?"

"Because you are a sick bastard."

"Riku?" asked Mina, quietly, "Can we leave please?"

"Sure." He said, taking her hand in his. He led her away from the leering stares of Axel and his cronies. They walked away fast, without even looking back. Once they were as far away from them as humanly possible, Riku let go of Mina's hand. "Thank you." She said softly.

"No problem. So, how long do you think you're gonna stay around here?"

"A while." She said, evading the subject. Riku noticed this, but didn't press the matter then they heard the bell ring, signaling them to go to lunch. They gladly headed down to the cafeteria where they saw Aerith waving them over. They walk over to where she was sitting and Mina sat down next to her. "Hey, Aer."

"Hiya, Mina. I see you've met Riku."

"Yeah, he helped me out of a tight spot with a bunch of guys who…let's just say, they weren't being that pleasant." She told Aerith, smiling at Riku. Riku grinned back at her and Mina felt butterflies go crazy inside her stomach. "_What's happening to me? Do I like Riku? Maybe. But I can't think about that now. I have other things to deal with._" Riku looked over at her dark expression. "_She looks angry. I wonder why. Was it something I did? I hope not._" He looked more closely at Mina and noticed the tearstains around her eyes, the mark of someone that had recently been crying a lot. "_Why does she look like she's been crying a lot?_" he wondered. But he was unable to ask her, because right then, the rest of their group came over and sat at their table. "Hi, Riku." said a spiky brown haired boy as he sat down next to him. "Hi, Sora." said Riku glumly. The brown haired boy, Sora, Riku called him, looked over at Mina in confusion. "And who is this lovely lady, Riku? I would have thought you would introduce me to a lady as fine as this." He said, flashing her one of the cheesiest grins she had ever seen and causing Mina to blush crimson.

"Oh, how completely idiotic of me! Guys, this is my cousin, Mina. Mina, these are my friends Sora, Kairi, Naminé, Roxas, Zexion, Yuffie, Wakka, Lulu, Selphie, and Tidus."

"Wow, that's a LOT of people." said Mina, slightly awestruck. She looked closely at Roxas and Naminé, wondering why they kept looking at each other like that. "Hey, are you two together?" she asked, pointing at them. They looked shocked and said, "NO WAY!" at the exact same time causing to cock her head to one side in confusion.

"Anyway, Riku, remember the tryouts today."

"Oh, crap, I completely forgot about those!"

"What tryouts?" asked Mina, who was kinda in the dark.

"Well, our band is holding tryouts for a new lead singer."

"Oh, you're in a band! What's your band called?" asked Mina, genuinely interested.

"'Dreamers'. Yeah I know, it's corny, but-"

"No, I like it!" she said, flashing a smile at him. Riku felt butterflies in his stomach, but ignored them.

"Hey Mina, you should try out for Riku's band!" said Yuffie hyperly.

"WHAT??"

"Yuffie has a point, Mina!" said Aerith, nodding, "You have an awesome voice!"

"Well…" mina looked down at her lap.

"I would love it if you could come." said Riku without thinking, leaning back in his seat.

"Well lookie her guys! It seems that Riku's got himself a little crush!" teased Tidus. Mina's head snapped up and Riku fell back off his chair. He got up, cursing, and glared at Tidus, but didn't say anything to the contrary. Mina noticed this and blushed. "Sure, I'll try." She said, causing Riku's spirits to rise.

((Later at the tryouts))

Riku groaned. It was almost the last tryout and every single one of them had been more painful to listen to then a sugar high Selphie. He thought to himself, "O_h please God, give me a good singer! Please!_" just then, Mina came up on the stage. She cleared her throat nervously and said, "um, hi. I-I'm gonna sing Somebody to Love, so…yeah." She looked at Wakka, who nodded and started playing her CD. She started singing along with it, her angelic voice ringing through the auditorium.

"_Can anybody_

_Find me-----e_

_Somebody to-o_

_Love?_

_Each morning I get up I die a little_

_Can barely stand on my feet_

_Take a look in the mirror and cry,_

'_lord, whatcha doing to me?'_

_I've spent all my years in believing you,_

_But I just can't get no relief_

_Lord, somebody_

_Somebody_

_Can anybody find me-e_

_Somebody to love_"

Mina looked over at the guys, who were all staring at her with their jaws almost touching the floor. She giggled and started to sing with a little bit more heart and feeling in her voice.

"_Got no feel, I go no rhythm_

_I just keep losing my beat_

_I'm okay, I'm alright_

_Ain't gonna face no defeat_

_I just gotta get out of this prison cell_

_One day I'm gonna be free_

_Lord, somebody_

_Somebody_

_Can anybody find me_

_Somebody to loo----oov-e_

_Every day_

_I try and I try and I try_

_But everybody wants to put me down_

_They say I'm going crazy_

_They say I got a lot of water in my brain_

_That I've no common sense _

_I got nobody left to believe_

_Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!_"

Mina started to dance (very sexily, might I add) and if it was even possible, the boys' jaws dropped even lower than before. All except Riku. Riku was staring at her face, not her body, and noticed her very happy expression and smiled. "_Finally._" He thought. "_I get to see her really smile. I guess this is something she really loves to do. And she looks totally **hot** doing it._" Mina looked up and their eyes locked together. Mina felt herself falling into the aquamarine depths of Riku's eyes while Riku was entranced by her soft green ones. She only just manage to blurt out the last verse

"_Somebody to---o lo-----ove_"

Once she had finished the last note, the entire auditorium EXPLODED with cheering, whistling, catcalls, and applause. Riku turned to his friends, who were still staring, open mouthed, at Mina, who was blushing madly, and said, "I think we found our singer." They all nodded slowly and Riku turned back to Mina. "Welcome to the band."

Aerith squealed in delight and ran up to the stage and almost knocked Mina over with a hug. "I'M SO PROUD OF YOU!!!" she screeched.

"Aerith, let her go." Said Riku, coming up onto the stage. He pulled Mina to her feet and handed her a small packet. "These are the songs that we've composed. You're gonna need to learn them all by the time the Battle of the Bands competition comes around. And we're gonna have a practice after school at my house today. But if you don't want to come…"

"I'd love to come!" she said, making Riku's spirits soar. He turned to leave. "Um, Riku?"

"Yeah?" he said, turning around in time to have Mina grab him and hug him very tightly. "Thanks for letting me in." she said, planting a kiss on his cheek and running off, leaving Riku very confused but extremely happy.


	3. Chapter 3

Mina walked to Aerith's house alone, rejoicing over the success of their latest practice. The competition was only a week away and they had sounded almost perfect. She heard the sound of hands clapping. She froze, then snapped, "Why are you here?"

"Aw, you aren't happy to see me?" asked an icy female voice from next to her. Mina didn't even look up. "What do you want, Natesa?"

Her other side smiled cruelly, and said, "I just want to know about your day. See if there was anything I could…_help_ you with."

"You know perfectly well that I don't want your help." Mina spat, still not looking at her. "Look what happened the last time."

"I would have thought you had gotten over that."

Mina's head snapped up and she glared at her almost twin. The only difference between them was the considerable lack of pity in Natesa's eyes, and the small, black tattoo on her left shoulder. "They were my PARENTS!!! And you killed them!"

"I had to do it. They would have continued to keep you from your true potential."

"So you murdered them."

"Mina," Natesa put an ice cold hand on her shoulder. "Life is full of sacrifices. If I didn't do that, then you never would have been able to meet all these…ahem, _wonderful_ people. Especially" she said with a smirk, "that Riku kid."

"I could have met Riku without you killing my parents."

"Whatever. What's done is done. So how are they, these friends of yours?"

"Like you care."

"Hmph. Well, if you're gonna be difficult, maybe I should just go find out myself."

"NO! Natesa, they must never find out about you. _Never_. Do you understand?"

"Alright, jeez."

"Good." Mina stormed off, leaving Natesa to stand, glowering. Then she vanished as though she never existed.

((Competition night))

(A/N: I'm sorry if it seems like I'm jumping ahead a lot, but I want to be able to finish this story.)

"Oh, I'm soo nervous!" Mina said, pacing up and down in the dressing room.

"Mina, chill." Riku said. He was getting dizzy from just watching her. She stopped and her shoulders slumped. "I know. I just can't help it." She sighed. "I wish Aerith was here. She could make me stop stressing so much."

"I know, but she had to stay home and take care of her…ahem, _boyfriend_."

Mina giggled. "I know. Who da thunk Cloud would finally work up the nerve to ask her out?" She was in her performance outfit already, which was a tank top, miniskirt, and long flowing ribbons that trailed across her arms. Even Riku had to admit that she looked hot in that outfit. Then Roxas poked his head into the room. "They're almost ready to call us. Ya might wanna come out here."

Mina took a deep breath and walked out with Riku following close behind her. Then a male announcer voice called out, "AN NOW FOR OUR FINAL PERFORMANCE OF THE EVENING, GIVE IT UP FOR THE DREAMERS!!!"

Cheers and applause greeted them as they walked out onto the stage. Mina walked up to the mike and shouted into it, "How ya'll doing tonight?? We're gonna do our trademark song, "Dream a Dream." Hope ya'll like it!!" she nodded to Riku, who started playing. Then she began to sing into the mike.

((Back at Aerith's))

"How are you feeling, Cloud?" Aerith asked.

"Better. All thanks to you." She smiled. "I told you not to get into that fight and what do you do? You ignore me and do it anyway."

"Yeah, well…"

"I know." She said, planting a kiss on his good cheek. "Just try not to make it so that you have to go to the hospital next time." She heard the doorbell ring, and left the room to answer it. She opened the door to reveal a panting young man. "Can I help you?" she asked.

"Is…Mina…Montez…here?" he gasped. Aerith's eyes narrowed. "No she has gone out for the night. Who are you and why do you ask?"

"My name is Byrd. And I believe Mina might be in great danger."

Aerith's eyes widened in shock. "Miss, can you please tell me where she is?"

"City Hall, at the Battle of the Bands concert." She checked her watch. "But it should be over by now…"

"Then there's no time to waste." He said, straightening. "Thank you for telling me." He ran off. Aerith blinked. Byrd had run so fast that it seemed like he was…flying.

((Back at the Concert))

"I can't believe we actually won!!!" mina squealed, hugging the rest of the band tightly.

"All thanks to you." Tidus said, smiling at her. "You literally rocked the house."

"Aw thanks, Tidus!" she checked her watch and gasped. "OMG, I was supposed to be home an hour ago!" she ran across the street without looking. Riku's eyes widened. "MINA, LOOK OUT!!"

"Huh?" she turned and only had a second to see the car speeding her way before someone pushed her out of the way and into Riku's arms. She heard an agonizing scream, and the sound of the car hitting a human body. She looked back, and broke down crying.

The person, a young boy, by the looks of it, was sprawled out on the pavement, blood running freely from his body, his eyes momentarily glassy and white. Mina turned away from the horrifying scene and cried into Riku's shoulder. He stared, dumbstruck, at the boy. Then something truly amazing happened.

The boy got up.

He stood up shakily and moved his head so that it faced forwards on his neck again. He grunted as he rearranged his ribs so that they fit back into his body, the skin around it healing itself instantly. He turned back to the astounded group, his eyes turning back to their normal brown color. "Umm…hi?"

"How…how did you-" mina gasped, staring at the bloodstains that now covered his shirt.

"Now's not a good time to talk about that." He said, stretching his newly healed bones. "Right now you have to come with me." HE looked at the boys. "On second thought, all of you should. There's no telling if it might be one of you too."

"What are you talking about?" Roxas asked.

"My name is Demitri, and I came to save your life."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ooooo…cliffie!!!

R&R for me please!!


End file.
